The Hunter's New Prey
by The Scrypt Keyper
Summary: "With new allies come new problems." Two weeks after the Disasteroid event, Team Phantom is back in school where new surprises greet them. With a new bully, a new possible friend, and a new ghost in town, Danny has a lot to worry about—including keeping away from Skulker, who is still bent on having our favorite hero's pelt!Beta'd by truephan.Season 4, ep 1 of my continuation of DP
1. Bullies, Fights, and Hybrids! Oh my!

**Hello all! Wow, it sure is great to be back in business! I've really missed writing for ya guys! But, anyway, this is the first episode of my continuation of Danny Phantom, meaning it's season 4, episode one. It was beta'd by my AWESOME beta truephan! Go check out her stories, they're awesome. *wink* Yup. I'm advertising. It's kinda my thank you for my beta. But, yeah. Go check her out, kay? And please enjoy!**

**Alright, here's the disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. I DO however, own Levi, and his posse (including Dante), Nikki, Empatia, and _Grind It_. What else did I reference? Oh, yeah. I also do not own Coach purses.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Danny, you're going to be late for school!"

Up in his room, the fifteen-year-old glared at his door as he hopped around on one foot, trying to put his shoes on. "I'm coming, Jazz!" He let out a frustrated huff, yanked his shoe on and slammed his foot to the ground. "Jeez."

Danny was not ready to go back to school in the least. Not only was it the beginning of his sophomore year, but it was also only two weeks after that whole Disasteroid thing. Saying he was the only thing being focused on by the public eye would be an understatement. He had tried to leave the house several times but every time "Phans"—as they called themselves—had bombarded him. Tucker thought it was hilarious. Sam thought it was a little weird, but kinda cool. Danny, however, thought it was just plain creepy.

In fact, at that exact same moment, unbeknownst to Danny, a group of those "Phans" was waiting right around the corner of his street for him to exit his house to go to school. Danny of course, being a teenage boy, didn't completely mind the attention from the girls. Nevertheless, he was still very loyal, and now that he had a girlfriend, he tried to refrain from checking out all the girls that wanted him now.

The teen hero snatched his backpack from his desk and stopped in front of his mirror to quickly comb his hair with his fingers. As he did so, his mind lingered over the "Phans" he wanted to avoid and he shuddered. As cute as they were, and as flattering as it was, it was creepy. He had seen the movies and seen in magazines and in the news how teen heartthrobs would be mobbed by their fans, but he had always thought they were all staged or over-dramatized. He never thought it was so true! Girls were constantly asking him out and when he said no, they would request something else that was entirely ridiculous! Many of them had stripped the shirt right off his back, or even his shoes, before he could get away. That, of course, would then be followed by a chorus of high-pitched screams and then a huge tackling of girls trying to snatch the "prizes" another girl had taken. One of these particular incidents included his shirt being ripped off along with over a dozen girls writing their names and numbers on him…in lipstick.

He was also getting a lot of "Phan" mail. Some of them were thankfully just notes of gratitude or letters from a kid who looked up to him. Many were long love letters and—get this—proposals! Then of course there were the psycho ones from people who were so obsessed with him they claimed things such as 'If I can't have you, nobody can. And I'll make sure of it.' Yup. Craziness.

Then of course, there was that little part about the gazillion messages on his phone from Paulina. That was definitely one thing Danny was not looking forward to having to do: telling Paulina he was already taken. The girl had a shrine of him in her locker for goodness sake! He could only imagine what her closet at home might look like.

Another shudder raked through Danny's body as he exited his room. Yah, this probably wasn't going to be a good day.

At least the Ghost Portal was still down and no ghosts could escape yet...

* * *

Sam leaned against her locker and glanced at her watch. Where the heck was Danny? She really hoped he wasn't ditching. He had mentioned that he might, but Sam was sure she had convinced him to at least try. Sure, she hadn't wanted to go to school today either, but the staring and whispering wasn't all that bad. Being an outcast, she was used to it.

The fifteen-year-old girl sighed. "At least we all got lockers next to each other," she murmured as she cast another glance around.

"Excuse me," said a timid voice.

"Huh?" Sam questioned, turning to her left to find a girl trying to open the locker to the right of her own. The girl had a black pixie cut and sea green eyes behind small and black rectangular-framed glasses. Her attire was a simple light blue tank top dress that almost reached her knees and with a white belt accenting her waist. She was also wearing white tights, boots the same color as her dress, white fingerless gloves, and a black choker. On her back was a black backpack with a splattered paint design in light blue, green, and purple.

"I didn't want to just push you out of the way," the girl said with a small smile.

"Oh…Uhm, thanks?" Sam said slowly, moving out of the way, as she studied the girl.

The unnamed girl smiled a little more. "Well, everybody else doesn't seem to mind pushing their way through high school. I figured why not be different?" She turned her sea green eyes to her locker as she put a few things in there.

"Right…." Sam muttered, raising a curious eyebrow. She didn't quite understand why this girl was talking to her. Just from looking at what she wore and seeing her seemingly shy personality, Sam could tell they were more than likely nothing alike.

The girl closed her locker door and gave Sam one last smile. "Later."

Sam blinked as her locker neighbor left. "Okay…." The Goth shrugged off her confusion. She turned around to look for Danny again and…."Agh!"

"Who was that?" Danny asked. He kept his gaze on Sam, obviously trying to ignore the whispering that had suddenly got louder when he entered the hallway.

"Hi, Danny. I'm fine; thanks for asking," Sam greeted sarcastically. "How are you?"

Danny cringed. "Sorry." His mouth turned up into a crooked smile. "How are you?"

Sam smiled. "I'm okay. Oh, and I dunno who that was." She shrugged. "I just know her locker is right next to mine. Yay me. I get to be by a bright, happy, shy girl."

The hybrid grinned. "Doesn't having me next to ya make up for that?"

Sam blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Are you flirting with me, Danny Fenton?"

Danny's cheeks flushed and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well, uh, maybe…a little bit?"

The Goth laughed. "Well, as long as you're flirting with me and not all those other girls that wanna be with you now."

Danny spun the lock on his new locker as he replied. "Trust me; you don't have to worry about me goin' after one of those girls. They're all…weird. Besides, we've pulled so many all-nighters just talking in the past two weeks that I thought that that would be enough for you to be sure that I really...like you."

"Hmm, I guess," Sam said in a teasing tone.

"Oh, and that reminds me," Danny said slowly, rubbing his neck again nervously. "I can't call you again till the end of the month….Uh, unless I can maybe convince my parents to up my phone minutes..."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Nice goin', Danny. But that's okay. You still got unlimited texting, right?"

Silence.

"They took that away after your week's minutes allowance spilled over into the next month, didn't they?"

"Mhm." Danny closed his locker and turned to Sam with a nervous look on his face. "So, uh, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to…uh…go do something after school or…something?"

Sam sighed. "I really wish I could, Danny, but I can't."

Danny's face fell. "Oh, well, that's okay. I had other stuff to do, anyway. I was just thinking, you know, since Tucker's still grounded for all that ghost hunting behind his parents' backs, and you and I are, um, ya know and…." The teen's voice trailed off and he looked down at the ground.

The Goth girl looked at her new boyfriend sympathetically. She hesitated and sighed before saying, "Well, I might be able squeeze something in. You know my parents aren't exactly too happy about all the ghost fighting, either. They want me home right away. But we could grab a bite to eat or something before I head home—I know my grandma will cover for me, at least. We could go to that new coffee shop down on Market Street. It's called Grind It, I think."

The hybrid immediately looked up smiling. "That sounds great!" He paused and frowned slightly. "Wait, coffee? Sam, you know I don't really…."

"Don't worry. They've got some other stuff, too. I've gone once. They're really good."

Danny sighed. "Okay. We can go there. But only 'cuz you wanna."

Sam smiled. "Cool."

Just then, the bell rang and they both sighed. Neither of them was too happy with the bell; they both had different homerooms, and didn't have any of the same classes until after lunch.

"Well, I'll see you later then…." Danny trailed off, taking a step back.

"Yah. Guess so…."

Sam turned around to head off to her homeroom when suddenly….

"Sam, wait!"

The Goth turned around and was about to ask what he needed when Danny promptly planted a kiss on her lips. She blinked in surprise as he pulled back, his cheeks a rosy red.

"I almost forgot," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

Sam smiled back at him, trying hard not to let it show how much that caused the butterflies in her stomach to flutter.

"Oh, uhm, well...I gotta go to class now though, so..." The Goth trailed off unsurely as, once again,she took a single step back.

"Uh, right. I'll...see you at lunch?" Danny asked, smiling nervously.

Sam's smile also turned a bit nervous as she replied, "Right. I'll...see you then..."

Then, not being able to think of a way to get through the awkwardness, she just waved at him before quickly heading toward her next class.

Danny waved back as he watched her disappear into the crowd. Once he was sure she was gone, he scowled, disappointed with himself.

"Come on, Fenton! Get it together! That was so lame and...and cliche!" The teen buried his face in his hands, mentally kicking himself. She had looked so uncomfortable! Had it been the right choice to have just kissed her in the middle of the hall?!

Danny Fenton had no experience with a girl like Sam. Like, back when he was with Paulina, he knew it would have been fine to kiss her in the middle of the halls. Paulina loved attention! But Sam wasn't like that.

He sighed as he continued mentally chiding himself before he took a step back and turned around—

Only to bump into another person. A tall, muscular boy who definitely looked like he had had a lot of experience in fights, to be exact!

The tall teen gasped as he stumbled forward and bumped into another boy he'd been talking to, effectively knocking the second boy's large cup of steaming hot coffee onto himself! He yelped as the hot coffee soaked through his shirt, but when he realized it had spilled all over his leather jacket as well, he quickly turned around to see who had bumped into him.

His eyes narrowed when he instantly recognized the boy as Danny Fenton—or as he was most commonly known as now, Danny Phantom.

"Watch where you're goin', freak," the tall male sneered. He looked down at him with dark brown eyes that were partially hidden under a pair of black sunglasses and messy dark brown bangs. His dark brown medium length hair barely touched the collar of his black leather jacket that covered a dark green shirt. The shirt was tucked into his dark blue jeans, which in turn hung over a pair of big black combat boots. Accenting his jeans was a black belt with a silver skull buckle and chains hanging down from his belt loops. A toothpick was clenched between a straight set of smirking pearly whites.

Danny took a step back as the angered teen towered over him. "Hey, I'm sorry. It was an accident!"

After a short moment, the hybrid realized what the taller teen had said, and he quickly demanded in a defensive tone, "And who are you calling a freak?"

The taller teen snarled and pushed Danny back, causing the hybrid to stumble as he tried to keep his balance.

"I'm callin' you a freak, freak! You spilled coffee all over my jacket. Do you even know how much this cost?" the tall male snapped.

Danny frowned. "Look, I'm sorry about your jacket—I really am, okay?! But that doesn't give you the right to go around callin' me a freak, just because you're mad! And...and..." The hybrid hesitated, trying to come back with something witty, but he couldn't think of anything. Instead, he demanded, "And why am I a freak?!"

"Well," the tall kid said slowly, glaring down at the hybrid. "You're half-ghost, half-human, and a total geek. Spells out 'freak' to me."

Once again, he shoved Danny back just as he asked three other boys behind him, "What do ya think, guys?"

The teens behind the one that had pushed Danny again laughed, as the hybrid grunted and stumbled back again, barely keeping his balance.

"I think callin' him a freak is a bit of an understatement, Levi," jeered one of the other teens, inadvertently identifying the one that had pushed Danny.

"I think that you should get back at him for spilling my coffee all over you," snarled the teen that had gotten his coffee knocked into Levi.

Levi narrowed his eyes at Danny before quickly glancing at the second kid that had addressed him. He brought his glare back to Danny and took a step towards the hybrid.

"I think you're right, Dante," Levi said with a smirk. He took another step towards Danny as he asked, "It's Fenton, right?"

Danny stayed silent and looked down at the ground, an irritated look on his face. As he glared at the ground, he tried to decide whether he should just let it go like he would have when he was just weak ole Danny Fenton, or give this jerk a dose of his own medicine.

Levi frowned when he wasn't getting much of a rise out of the shorter boy. He continued, "Ya know, I don't see why everybody likes you so much. So, you saved the world. Big deal." The smirk returned to the tall kid's face as he added, "And I bet I'm not the only one who won't tolerate some freak like you parading around pretending you belong here."

A small growl exited Danny's throat as he looked up and glared at Levi. After a moment of silence, Danny calmly replied, "Look—Levi, wasn't it?—I don't want any trouble. I'm sorry about your jacket, but I think we can both just move past this and—agh!"

Levi suddenly interrupted whatever Danny was going to say with the delivery of a swift punch to the hybrid's face! Danny stumbled back and dropped his backpack when both his hands went up to his throbbing nose. When he pulled them away, he found blood covering his fingers. "Dude, what the—ugh!" This time he doubled over in pain when Levi's fist connected with his stomach.

Levi's posse laughed as Danny groaned. The hybrid yelped as he was abruptly grabbed by the collar of his shirt and lifted up off the ground so he was eye level with Levi.

"I don't think so, Fenton," Levi snarled as he slammed the hybrid into the lockers.

Danny wheezed and kicked as he tried to get Levi to release him. "Hey, lemme go!"

"Keep dreamin', freak," Levi sneered, pushing Danny harder into the locker. "Come on, freak. Aren't ya gonna fight back? Isn't that kinda your thing? Or are you really just a coward?"

Knowing that he could easily hurt the tall male if he used his ghost powers, Danny just continued to struggle. However, a pained cry exited his throat as he was pulled away from the lockers and slammed even harder back into them, this time his back hitting a combination lock!

By this time, a crowd had gathered around the five boys. Everybody obviously wanted to see how the bully would fare up against Danny when he decided to use his ghost powers to fight back.

At least some of the kids were against the bullying of their hero when one of them shouted out, "Hey, let him go!"

Levi didn't listen to the shout, and proceeded to slam Danny back into the lockers again, even more forcefully than before!

But suddenly a hand was on the tall male's shoulder, and when he turned around to see who dared interrupt him, he was forced to let go of Danny as a second fist collided into his own face!

Danny groaned as he dropped to the floor and wrapped his arms around his torso. Already he could feel his powers working on fixing his injuries—which he swore included several cracked ribs!—but that didn't mean it hurt any less.

Cheers—as well as a few boos—erupted from the crowd as Levi stumbled back, holding his aching jaw. Both he and the hybrid looked up from the ground to see who had interrupted them.

It was none other than Dash Baxter.

Dash glared at Levi, pounding a fist into his hand. Even though his feelings toward Danny had changed in Danny's favor, he had to make this good. After all, he didn't want anyone —not even Danny —to know that he wasn't still the toughest kid in school. "Nobody bullies Fenturd except me!"

Levi narrowed his eyes and walked over to Dash, who stood his ground. But Dash wasn't intimidated in the least, even as Levi stood at least three inches taller than him.

"You wanna bet?" Levi sneered.

"Oh, I bet," Dash snapped back, stepping forward so that when he looked up, the two were nearly nose-to-nose.

The two glared and growled, daring one another to make a move. And when the crowd saw that this was about to become a two-sided fight, rather than a one-sided one, they started chanting, "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

The taller of the two was just about to deliver the first punch, too, when a loud, authoritative voice shouted, "Alright, break it up! Break it up!"

The two teens ignored the order as Lancer made his way through the crowd and to them. He grabbed each of their shoulders and pushed them apart. However, it didn't stop the two from at least trying to escape his grasp and start their fight.

"Enough!" the paunchy-bellied teacher exclaimed, keeping his firm grip on the two boys. "What is the meaning of this?"

"This ungrateful jerk thought he could beat up Fenton," Dash snarled, shrugging Lancer's hand off his shoulder as he took a step towards Levi. He did not mention, however, that he had told the tall punk that only he could beat up on the hero. Dash wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but he wasn't that stupid.

"Only because he spilled coffee on my jacket! I bet you'd be angry, too, if he spilled something all over your pretty little Letterman jacket, ya preppy jock!" Levi snapped back, also shrugging Lancer off of him and taking a step towards Dash.

"And look at you," he added. "He was obviously just a nobody geek before, and you're the quarterback. I doubt you ever missed a chance to shove him into a locker before you found out he was a hero." Levi sneered the last part in a mocking tone, showing he really didn't care what Danny might have done to "save the world."

"Enough!" Lancer shouted, once again pulling the two away from each other. "I want to see you both in my office after school for detention. Do you understand?"

Dash's jaw dropped. Not once since he had gotten on the football team had he received a detention. "But—"

"No 'but's' Mr. Baxter," Lancer said sternly.

Levi laughed. "What's the matter, Baxter? Never gotten a detention before? Been too busy playing Mr. Quarterback, favorite of the teachers?"

"That's enough, Mr. Estevez. But if you'd like to say anything more, I'd be glad to give you another detention."

Levi glared at the ground. "Whatever."

"Now then. Both of you, off to class," the vice-principal ordered. He then turned to the crowd. "All of you, get to class."

As the two bullies and crowd dispersed, Lancer walked over to Danny, who had just now managed to pull himself off the ground. He had just picked up his backpack, and was now trying to get it on when Lancer handed him a slip of paper. Danny saw that it was an excused tardy slip.

"Go to the nurse's office and get yourself cleaned up. That's for if you feel well enough to continue school day," the teacher explained.

"It's okay," Danny quickly said. "I, uh, heal fast, so I should be—"

"I said, to the nurse's office, Mr. Fenton," Mr. Lancer repeated.

Danny sighed. "Alright," he muttered before he slowly made his way down the hall.

* * *

The room fell silent as Danny entered. Even the teacher looked up from her book to see why the noisy teens had suddenly gone quiet. When she noticed it was Danny, she almost questioned why he was late, but then recalling who exactly it was and deciding to let it slide this time, she just watched him walk over to a seat.

Danny swallowed hard and kept his gaze down on the floor as he made his way over to the only seat left available: right smack in the middle of the very front of the class. He internally groaned when he glanced up for a split second to see who had claimed seats around him. Though he didn't know the kid that sat behind him or the girl to his right—though she looked vaguely familiar—to his left was Paulina.

The hybrid quietly sat down and the moment he had, the whispering around him started, getting louder and louder.

"Hey, Danny…." Paulina said seductively, leaning over towards him.

Danny's cheeks turned red as he kept his gaze forward. "Hi, Paulina."

He was trying desperately to ignore her and the whispers around him, but it was so hard!

"That was pretty brave what you did. Saving the whole world and everything," Paulina continued as she leaned closer to him.

The teen hybrid stiffened when he felt her hand on his and he quickly pulled it away. "It was nothing."

Gosh, it was hard to concentrate with her being so close to him! Sure, he was with Sam now, but he had, after all, had a crush on Paulina for a long time. And now that she was actually talking to him? Of course, he knew it was just because she knew he was Phantom now, but still….Teenage boy plus hormones and a hot popular girl? You do the math.

Paulina giggled and grabbed his other hand, squeezing it gently before adding, "You know, I like a guy in a suit, especially when it's black-and-white.I think it's pretty hot."

"I have a girlfriend!" Danny suddenly whispered to her and she blinked in surprise. "I'm, uh, sorry, Paulina. But I know what you're gonna ask, and it's a no."

Paulina pulled back and folded her arms. "Who?"

Small beads of sweat trickled down his face as he turned to her and he said nervously, "Sam."

The Latino scoffed. "That Goth geek? Please!" She pouted and batted her lashes. "Come on, Danny, just one little date? It couldn't hurt just to—"

"I think he said he has a girlfriend."

Both the hybrid and popular girl turned to the girl Danny thought looked familiar. Danny suddenly recognized her as the girl at the locker that neighbored Sam's locker.

"Excuse me?" Paulina sneered. "And who are you?"

The girl put her book down and looked right at Paulina who which was pretty brave, for a new kid who had no social ranking yet and was standing up to the most popular girl in school, was pretty brave. "Nikki. And I'm pretty sure you heard what I said."

Paulina glared at Nikki and leaned forward. Danny leaned back in his chair to avoid the angered popular girl.

"Do you know who you're talking to, geek?" the Latino snarled.

"Well, I heard him call you Paulina, so I'm just gonna take a guess that it's your name. And it's Nikki," Nikki replied, folding her arms and keeping her gaze steady on Paulina.

At this point, the other kids in the class had gone back to their conversation, so this little face-off wasn't exactly too major at the moment.

Paulina narrowed her eyes at Nikki. "You better watch what you say. You have no idea what I could do to your social life. I could make your life here a living—"

Riiiiiiinnnnnggggg!*

"Oh, look, we're all out of time," Nikki sighed with fake disappointment in her voice. "Darn shame. I was looking forward to knowing all about how popular you are and how everybody in this school thinks you're the prettiest girl here. And who would wanna miss you brag about your new handbag?"

The new girl stood up and tucked her book into her backpack before slipping it on. She glanced at the purse on Paulina's desk and smiled at her pleasantly. "And before you go telling the whole sophomore about how expensive and special it is, it's just a 'Coach'. Not all that special."

Danny watched with his mouth agape as Nikki left the room quietly and Paulina storm out while fretting over her bag to see if the new girl had been right.

After the hybrid got over his shock, Danny blinked and ran out of the room after the girl that had stood up to him.

"Yes?" the girl questioned, turning around right as Danny caught up to her and was about to get her attention.

Danny blinked in surprise. How had she known it was him?

He pushed away the question and smiled. "Thanks for helping me out back there. You didn't have to."

Nikki shrugged. "Don't mention it. You looked like you needed some help. I just did what any decent person would do."

The hybrid grinned. "Well, the way you told her off back there was cool. I don't think I've ever seen anybody really stand up to her except Sam."

"You're girlfriend Sam, or a different Sam?" Nikki asked with a raised eyebrow.

Danny flushed. "Girlfriend Sam. I actually only know one Sam." The raven-haired boy paused before they started walking down the hall. "So, you're new here, right?"

"Yep. Just moved here about a week ago. I don't really know my way around yet, but the important parts of town aren't that big besides downtown—uh, well,according to the map I have—so I don't think it'll be that hard to figure out," Nikki replied casually.

"Yeah, Amity Park isn't all that big. I mean, at least a quarter of the town is the old part, which is mostly condemned buildings. It's over on the east side of town; I wouldn't go over there if I were you. A lot of punks and gangs. Kinda dangerous." Danny warned.

Nikki laughed. "So the only danger in Amity Park isn't just ghosts?"

Danny grinned. "The ghosts aren't really that dangerous. Some of them you might want to stay away from, but most of them you don't have to worry about. Though, I wouldn't suggest hanging around if one decides to attack. They might not be that dangerous, but they can cause trouble pretty easily."

"Good to know," the short-haired girl commented with a small smile.

They had just reached a split in the hallway and they stopped. Danny turned to Nikki and smiled as he continued, "But, anyway. Since you're new and everything, you wanna join me and my friends for lunch?"

Nikki seemed to think about it for a moment before she shrugged. "Okay. It's not as if I know anybody yet. And you seem pretty nice. I'll see you at lunch."

"Alright. Bye!" Danny called over his shoulder as he started heading down towards his first class.

* * *

"So how is Mister Hero's first day back to the norm goin?" Tucker asked with a curious grin as he sat down across from Danny and Sam."I heard somebody got into a fight."

"Yeah, are you alright?" Sam asked, a worried frown on her face.

Danny winced, rubbing his ribs at the memory. "Yeah. I spilled some coffee all over this kid Levi's jacket and...Well, let's just say he wasn't too happy about it. But I should be fine."

Tucker grinned. "Did ya fight back?"

"No," Danny muttered, pushing his fries around his tray, a glare on his face. "I should have, though. I didn't even have time to think about using my powers with how quick he was. I think I might have cracked a rib or two."

Sam gasped and Tucker's eyes widened.

"Whoa! How'd ya get outta the fight?" Tucker asked.

The hybrid frowned slightly. "Dash helped me. Told Levi to lemme go, and when he wouldn't, he punched him in the face. Dash told 'em that only he was allowed to bully me. Right before they got into a fight, Lancer showed up, though. They both got detention."

A grin spread across Tucker's face. "Looks like you're Lancer's new favorite. This could come in handy."

Sam rolled her eyes at the African-American boy's comment. But then she glanced at Danny and said, "I'm just glad you're alright. When I heard you'd gotten into a fight, I was actually worried about the kid you got in a fight with. What with you not having to hide your powers anymore."

Danny sighed. "I thought about using my powers. But I was actually kinda worried I'd hurt him more than he could hurt me. I really did try to get away, though. I guess I owe Dash a thanks-even if he was just making sure only he can beat me up."

"Do you think he'll really keep bullying you? I mean, he is a huge fan of 'Danny Phantom,'" Sam pointed out.

Danny shrugged. "I dunno. If he does-" Danny suddenly stopped when a blue wisp of energy escaped his lips and he groaned. "Aw, man."

"You need some help?" Tucker asked, putting down his Sloppy Joe.

Danny sighed. "Nah, I'll be fine. You guys stay here. If anybody asks where I am, tell them…uh…tell them…I dunno, just lie."

Sam and Tucker watched as Danny quickly ran out of the room before glancing at each other.

"You're not saying anything," Sam said with a firm expression on her face as she folded her arms.

"What, you can trust me to not sell out where he is!" Tucker said, grinning.

"Says the boy who is in danger of losing his limbs because he bet on his two best friends' love life." Sam replied dryly.

Tucker just smiled nervously before turning his attention to his sandwich.

Sam cringed in disgust as he wolfed it down and she shook her head. Sometimes she wondered how somebody could eat like that….

* * *

Danny soared into the sky and looked around for the ghost that had triggered his ghost sense. Where had it come from? The Ghost Portal was still down, so they must have found a natural portal….

"So much for my ghost-free time," Danny sighed as he surveyed the area. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Until he heard a scream.

The Ghost Boy's gaze darted in every direction until finally he spotted where it was: to his far left and above him. He groaned as he noticed it was Skulker, but immediately started speeding over there when he noticed that the hunter had another ghost in his possession.

"Lemme go, you stupid bucket head!" the ghost girl screamed. But Skulker just yanked her wrists tighter behind her. She had snow-white hair in a pixie cut and eyes the color of the wore a white dress with a light blue belt, white boots, and fingerless gloves, tights, and choker in the same blue color. If it weren't for the fact that she had white hair and was glowing, Danny would have sworn she was human!

"Perhaps I'll let you go if you tell me where the others are," Skulker growled with a predatory grin on his face.

The ghost girl winced as the hunter's grip tightened. "Alright, one: I know you won't let me go if I tell you. Two: I don't know where they are. And three: you better let me go right now."

Skulker chuckled. "Or else what?"

"Hey, let her go!"

Skulker looked up and his grin widened at seeing the ghost boy coming towards them with growing energy in his hands.

Unfortunately for Skulker, this was the perfect distraction the girl needed. She quickly twisted around, ultimately releasing her from his grip, and kicked him square in the jaw as she escaped. Following her small attack, as Skulker attempted to straighten his helmet, only to see a volley of blasts coming at him from Danny.

Skulker managed to dodge most of these blasts, but was finding it a bit difficult with both the ghost boy and ghost girl opposing him.

Danny soared up to where Skulker was preparing several of his guns. Putting up his energy covered fists, he scowled, "I see you weren't patient enough to wait for the portal to be fixed and found yourself a natural one."

Skulker grinned. "You are mistaken, whelp. I already knew of a natural portal. And though my intended trips recently have been to locate the girl you just released from me, I'm always happy to have the chance to retrieve your pelt."

"Dude, that is so gross," said the girl, who had just floated up behind Danny, her hands filled with energy the same color as her eyes.

Skulker growled as he tried to decide which was more important: the ghost boy or the girl? He had only come prepared with enough to catch the girl, for he had not had time to repair his suit from the last few battles with her. The mission of catching her was one of which that was appointed to him from an employer of his—actually two. The least powerful of the two employers had demanded that Danny was to be unharmed and kept out of the situation to the best of the hunter's ability, and the more powerful of the two employers had soon agreed to this, though he had said to catch the boy if able to.

Seeing Skulker was obviously having difficulties trying to figure out which one of them to go after, Danny floated back a little ways before turning to the girl. "Trust me, he's said worse."

The girl snorted. "Yeah? I've been running from him for, like, three weeks. I've heard his motto about trophies and pelts."

Danny raised an eyebrow and looked the girl over, still trying to get over the fact that she looked so…human. "So, uh, why exactly does he want you anyway? I mean, you don't look like you're rare or anything….Well, you look a little more human than other ghosts I've seen but…."

The girl opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, a blast zipped between them and exploded, separating the two. Both went spiraling backwards before they managed to catch their balance. The two looked over to where Skulker was and saw that he had every gun he had pointed at the girl. She swallowed hard.

"If you must know, whelp," Skulker said to Danny, though he kept his gaze on the girl. "An employer of mine sent me to retrieve her. Let's just say she has some things to answer to."

The girl narrowed her eyes at Skulker. "Ya know, I'm starting to think that maybe I should just go with you to see who exactly your employer is. Because I swear, if it's who I think it is, then you can tell him to leave me alone and that I don't know where they are! If I knew, I'd be with them right now!"

Danny blinked in confusion at the hunter and girl's conversation as Skulker replied, "I do not think either of them would be too pleased if I let you go, Empatia."

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint either one of them, but I'm afraid I can't go with you. So if you don't mind, I have some other things to do before I—agh!"

Danny gasped when Skulker suddenly blasted the girl right out of the air. She screamed as the energy from the strange blast pulsed around her before it disappeared and she started falling.

Not wasting another second, Danny quickly went after her, but Skulker was faster. Before Danny could get too far, the hunter grabbed the boy by the ankle. The young hybrid yelped in surprise before screaming as Skulker quickly twisted his ankle around, spun him in the opposite direction of the girl, and let him go.

It took longer than usual for Danny to regain his balance, and when he did, it was almost impossible to ignore the searing agony he felt in his injured ankle. He hissed in pain as he attempted to examine it, but when he heard another scream he forced the pain out of his mind and looked around.

The ghost girl was nowhere to be seen. However, there was another girl down on the ground standing in the bushes. Danny immediately recognized her as Nikki when she screamed and jumped to the side as Skulker sent a rocket down at her. Forming his legs into his ghostly tail, Danny flew as fast as he could towards Skulker. The hunter was so busy with Nikki that he didn't even notice the young hybrid come up behind him.

Skulker screamed in anger as his helmet got knocked forward. Danny threw a few blasts at the disorientated hunter. Finally, Skulker managed to gather his bearings and get his helmet back on as he warned the hybrid, "I will have your pelt on my wall; and I will retrieve the other hybrid girl."

Danny just stared, shocked at Skulker's words as the hunter flew away. Hybrid girl? That was impossible! The only hybrids in the world were Vlad, Dani, and himself…right?

Deciding it wasn't important at the moment, Danny just sighed and shook his could always go after Skulker and try to locate that ghost girl he called 'Empatia' now, though, he had to go make sure Nikki was okay.

When the hybrid reached the ground, he found Nikki picking leaves off her dress and out of her hair. "Are you alright?" Danny asked as he landed on the ground and morphed back into his human counterpart. He winced slightly as he felt the pressure on his right ankle and relieved it slightly by leaning more to his left.

"I think so," Nikki replied as she flicked away the last of the leaves on her dress before smiling at Danny. "Nice welcoming committee you have here. Very unique. Anywhere else I would be given a welcome to the neighborhood gift basket. Way too cliche, if you ask me."

Danny laughed and picked a leaf out of her hair, surprised at how calm the girl was about the whole ordeal. "Definitely. But I'm sorry about that. He normally doesn't attack innocents like that….I mean, he has a few times, but only to distract me, and I don't think that was the case this time…."

Nikki shrugged. "It's cool." She paused and glanced at his injured ankle. "Is your ankle alright?"

The hybrid frowned. "How'd you….?"

"I saw him spin you around and stuff. That couldn't have felt good," she explained.

Danny shrugged and lifted his pant leg up a little to examine it. "It's a bit swollen….I might have sprained it, but it'll be okay. It happens all the time. I heal fast."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "I don't think that can possibly be good for you."

When Danny gave her a confused look, she elaborated, "What if it has lasting effects since you don't allow it to heal properly? It could get injured more easily because you don't take proper care of the injury. I don't know anything about what your kind of anatomy is, but you are still human."

The hybrid hesitantly looked down at his ankle before letting his pant leg drop. He supposed that he did get injured a bit more easily in places he'd already been injured, but he had never really thought about it like that.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"My dad was a doctor," Nikki replied as she picked up her backpack.

Danny furrowed his brows. "Was?"

Nikki froze, halfway standing up with her backpack in hand. She hesitated, noticing her slip up before quietly saying, "I don't like to talk about it."

The two were silent for a moment before Danny could no longer take the awkward silence. He smiled lightly at her and asked, "So, you still wanna join my friends and me for lunch?"

Nikki smiled weakly. "Sure."

Danny smiled back and the two headed to the cafeteria.

* * *

**So, what'd ya guys think? I really hope ya like it, cause it took FOREVER to do. I worked really hard on it. But, I'm open to some constructive criticism! Anything that will help me improve. So, whatever you wanna say, all ya gotta do is type a little message in the box below the story! It's really easy, I promise! And a few reviews would be an AWESOME gift for my sweet sixteen comin' up in a few days. *hint hint, wink wink*. Hope you enjoyed!**


	2. Lovebirds, Mayors, and a New Friend

**Wow, guys, I'm SO sorry for the uber long wait. I've been TOTALLY swamped with my new job and schoolwork. Heh. I'm only sixteen, and I'm already taking manager classes...After only being there for two months! So, bear with me. Updates Are gonna be slow. But I promise I'll try and update when I can, okay?  
As always, thanks to my amazing beta, truephan, for all the help and support!**  
**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Maybe we should go check on him," Sam commented as she glanced at the cafeteria entrance. Only ten minutes had passed, but maybe he needed help.

"I'm sure he's fine," Tucker replied. "It's only been ten minutes."

The Goth sighed and turned back to her salad. "Alright. But I'm gonna go see if he needs help if he doesn't come back in the next five minutes."

"What I wanna know is, where the heck did that ghost girl go? She just disappeared after Skulker—the other ghost in the metal suit—blasted her."

Sam and Tucker looked up upon hearing Danny's voice just then, and both were a bit surprised to see him coming over with another girl.

The girl—who Sam immediately recognized as her new locker neighbor—shrugged as she replied, "I dunno. I had gone outside to get some fresh air before I met you for lunch, and then I saw her get blasted. That's why I was over in the bushes. I was going to go see if I could help her. I mean, that blast looked like it hurt a lot. But she was gone when I got over there."

Danny nodded in agreement. "Some of Skulker's weapons really hurt. But, whatever the case is, I hope she's okay."

"What if she's evil?" the new girl asked as a frown appeared on her face.

The hybrid shrugged. "Innocent until proven guilty? She didn't blast me, and she was running from Skulker. Right now, I'm saying she's good."

The two teens finally made it to where Sam and Tucker were sitting.

Sam glanced at the girl before looking up at Danny. "Who was it?"

"It was Skulker. And another ghost, but I'll get to that in a moment," Danny commented before continuing. "Guys, this is Nikki. Nikki, this is Sam and—"

"Tucker. Tucker Foley. That's TF, as in 'too fine!'" Tucker interrupted as he stood up and held out his hand. He winked before asking her, "You free Friday night?"

Nikki laughed as she took his hand and shook it. "Uhm, my parents say I can't date until I'm sixteen. But thanks for the offer."

"Darn," Tucker sighed. But then he grinned and asked, "When do you turn sixteen?"

Nikki giggled more, and Sam just rolled her eyes as the laughing girl quipped back, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Danny chuckled as he sat down next to Sam and commented, "Give her a break, Tuck. It's only her first day!"

Sam, not really taking an interest in the conversation, questioned, "How did you two meet?"

The hybrid shrugged. "Paulina is in my homeroom, and so is Nikki. Of course, Paulina made sure the last empty seat was next to her, and she tried to ask me out. But Nikki, who was on my other side, heard her, and told her off."

"I heard him tell her that he already had a girlfriend, and when she kept going, I just kinda helped him out," Nikki added as she sat down across from Danny and next to Tucker, who was across from Sam.

"Afterwards, I invited her to have lunch with us. But I just saw her again while I was fighting Skulker," Danny continued.

"Good thing you were there," Nikki laughed nervously. "If you weren't, I probably wouldn't be here right now..."

Sam raised an eyebrow before asking, "What do you mean?"

Danny frowned slightly. "Skulker attacked her. I mean, he could have been aiming for wherever the ghost girl—I think Skulker called her 'Empatia'—went to, but it really seemed as if he was aiming for Nikki."

"Well, at least you're okay now," Tucker pointed out.

The four were silent a moment before Sam cleared her throat and asked, "So, Nikki, where are you from?"

Nikki hesitated for a moment before saying slowly, "I was born in Italy, but I moved to Texas when I was ten. And then I moved here."

"Whoa, you're from Italy?" Tucker asked. "So, do you speak Italian?"

Nikki giggled before replying, "Well, I did live there for ten years. Of course!"

"You don't have much of an accent," Sam commented, now a bit more interested in the girl.

Nikki shrugged. "When I moved to America, I was teased for the way I talked, especially because I didn't know much English. So I kinda learned to suppress it. Ya know, try to talk with an 'American accent.' It took a lot of practice. It still comes out, though, if I'm not paying attention."

Sam just 'hmm'ed' and placed her elbow on the table, resting her chin on the heel of her hand.

"That's pretty cool," Danny said. "I'd love to learn another language. I'm taking Spanish, but I don't have much time to study."

"You _do _have time to study. You just spend the time playing video games," Tucker corrected, smirking.

"Shut up," Danny mumbled, though he smiled slightly. "Look who's talking."

"Hey!" Tucker quickly began to defend himself. "I help out with the ghosts, I get my homework out of the way, and _then _I play video games until three in the morning."

"Uh, what about your new mayor duties?" Sam asked, frowning.

"Don't you watch the news? Or remember me telling you?" Tucker asked, a scowl on his face. "Turns out, I can't because I'm too young. But, hey, it's cool. Since they found out Vlad cheated on the last election, they're giving Montez his spot back."

Sam smiled. "I always liked him. At least now we'll have a chance of keeping that nature reserve down by the park." The Goth girl scowled. "Vlad was gonna get rid of it and send the animals to a zoo so some new strip mall could be built. But Montez is the one who originally put it in, so I know he won't take it out."

"Vlad, as in, Vlad Plasmius?" Nikki asked, and she suddenly frowned at the name.

Tucker nodded. "Yup. Mister Psycho Villain himself."

Nikki shuddered. "I only saw him on those old stories on the news, but he still gives me the creeps even when they say he's gone. Just his eyes alone...They still look so cold—even on TV!"

While Tucker continued to tell Nikki about Vlad, Sam noticed Danny had suddenly gone extremely quiet. He sat there staring at his tray, pushing his broccoli around his tray with a troubled frown on his face.

"Hey, you okay?" Sam asked softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

Danny sighed and muttered, "Just...You guys bringing up Vlad."

Sam frowned. "Still wondering what happened?"

The hybrid nodded. "We know Dad didn't come back with him. And everybody is just assuming Dad left him stranded. But he won't tell me anything. I know Mom knows what happened, but she won't tell me, either!"

"Danny, I'm not trying to be mean, but honestly...Does it matter? He held the entire world at ransom. I think he deserves whatever he had coming," she continued.

Danny hesitated and glanced at Sam before looking back down at his tray. "I'm not sure, Sam. Yeah, he was a bad guy and everything, but everybody deserves a second chance. He messed up. But I've messed up tons of times, too. I don't like him anymore than you do, but...I guess I just wish I knew what happened..."

"I'm sure your parents will tell you when they think you're ready," the Goth assured the troubled teen.

Danny sighed again. "Yeah. I guess you're right..."

Both he and his girlfriend then turned their attention back to Tucker and Nikki's conversation.

"…A clone? Ew, that is _so _weird! Or...gross...Ugh!" Nikki giggled. "This guy sounds like a fruit loop."

Danny smiled weakly. "I actually used to call him a fruit loop...But yeah, he was pretty messed up."

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. The four teens sighed.

As Danny got up, he held his hand out to help Sam up as well. Sam blushed, but accepted the help before turning to Nikki.

"It was nice meeting you, Nikki. See ya later."

"It was nice meeting you, too! Bye!" Nikki replied before turning around and heading towards the exit.

Tucker grinned at his two best friends as he picked up his tray. "Well, seeing as you two lovebirds have the same class next, I'll let you go ahead and walk each other to class."

"We're not love—" The couple stopped in the middle of their exclamation of denial and looked at each other, blushing heavily. For now, they honestly could say that they _were _lovebirds.

"We're _not _lovebirds," Sam denied.

"We're just...uh...two good friends who happen to like one another more than a normal friend would," Danny finished for her as he squeezed her hand.

"Uh, right," Sam said, her face flushing red.

Tucker rolled his eyes. "Uh huh. Whatever you say. I'll see you two later."

Not moving a muscle, the couple watched their friend leave.

Finally, though, Danny glanced at Sam and leaned towards her before whispering, "Uh..._are _we lovebirds?"

"Uh...Well...Uhm..." Sam stammered, rubbing her arm nervous as she felt her cheeks getting warmer. "I mean...I guess...Kind of...'Cause...we _are _boyfriend and girlfriend now...Er...right?"

Danny smiled anxiously. "Uh, yeah. I mean, I guess. I've kissed you, like, three or four times since the, uh, Disasteroid thing, so I suppose that makes us a..."

"Couple?" Sam finished for him.

"Hehe, right. A couple."

The two stared at each other for a long moment before Sam cleared her throat and said, "Well then. I guess we should get to class?"

"Huh?" Danny asked, blinking. "Oh. Right. Class." He cleared his throat as well before gesturing ahead of them. "Ladies first."

* * *

**Hmm. A bit of a filler chapter. But what did you think? You learned a bit more about Nikki, and you discovered that I totally disagree with Tucker being mayor! Hooray for learning new things! LOL. Anyway, the next chapter might be a little while, but I'll try to get it to y'all as soon as I can, okay?**

~Forever and Always, Nikki


End file.
